Since the outbreak of the global pandemic, the container imbalance and the reduction of capacity in liner shipping has seriously impacted on the shippers and freight forwarders who have been seeking to ensure the fluidity of their global supply chains, which remains crucial during the ongoing crisis. Since these problems perpetuate, European Shippers' Council (ESC)

The American Association of Exporters and Importers suggests relief measures that President Trump puts in place to provide immediate and substantial relief to American businesses. The measures include a delay of USMCA implementation,  extending the time for companies to respond to all "paper-based" processing deadlines, and relaxing export controls and import regulatory requirements. For more

GSA supports the European Shippers' Council's position regarding the intention of the European Commission to extend the Block Exemption Regulation for another four years. This extension will bring negative consequences for the market. As indicated in the ESC press release, the Commission’s decision to extend the BER is not sufficiently supported by relevant data. No credible

The European Shippers’ Council rejects the proposal of the European Commission to extend the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation for 4 more years without any modifications. The current BER, in place since 2009, doesn’t provide any instruments to deal with the current market drivers and has serious consequences that affect the present maritime business conditions. For more

The Asian Shippers’ Alliance agrees to contribute to the review process of the EU Consortia Block Exemption Regulation, to battle against sharply increasing shipping costs, and to encourage the improvement of liners’ performance.

Rotterdam, the 20th of March 2019, a delegation of the Global Shippers' Alliance made an intervention at the ESC Maritime Day. As stressed by Ghanayapad Tantipipatpong from the Thai Shippers' Council referring to the International Maritime Organization's sulphur cap coming into force on the 1st of January 2020, there is a global concern about the

On March 19th 2019 the members of the Global Shippers’ Alliance convened in Amsterdam for their annual meeting.

More and more complaints are coming from shippers regarding the introduction of the Emergency Bunker Surcharge by carriers. The European Shippers' Council has addressed the competition department of the European Commission on this issue. Please read more here.

A new freight train service has been launched from Tangshan (150 km from Beijing) to Belgium. A train carrying 41 containers of local products, such as kaoline and yeast, departed around noon Thursday from Jingtang Port District in the city of Tangshan, marking the inauguration of the service. The train will go through Kazakhstan, Russia,

The Asian Shippers’ Alliance met together with the Global Shippers’ Alliance on 25-27 March 2018. The participants discussed major developments in Asia: Belt & Road initiatives; infrastructure development and connectivity, especially the land-bridge linking Europe and Asia and the Southern Transport Corridor; and liner consolidations and market concentration among others. Please, read the joint statement